Field
Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to communication systems, and more particularly, to communication systems for managing communications with emergency dispatch services.
Background
In an emergency, loss of life and property may be prevented if emergency response services are notified quickly after the emergency ensues. For the most part, telephone calls from the public provide notifications to the emergency response services. In the United States of America, for example, emergency dispatch services (EDSs) operate public service answering points (PSAPs) to provide a single intake point for dispatching emergency services.
PSAPs operate 9-1-1 emergency call centers that receive voice calls from individuals reporting an emergency. A significant proportion of these calls are placed by individuals using cellular phones. As cellular phones become more pervasive, the ability to quickly report emergencies improves. However, with the improvement in access to cellular phones there is an increased chance that a voice network (circuit-switched network) may be overloaded when an emergency call is made. For example, several cellular phone users may be making calls at the same time to report a major incident. In such a scenario, the high volume of emergency calls may overload the voice network and cause a caller to the 9-1-1 system to receive a busy signal. Thus, the caller is unable to report the emergency unless the caller redials 9-1-1 and the call is answered. In some circumstances, calls regarding non-life-threatening incidents may take up call bandwidth of the voice network and thereby prevent calls to report life-threatening emergencies from reaching the emergency service dispatcher.
As practical examples, instances have been reported where motorists driving on a roadway observe emergency situations, such as an accident or car fire, and attempt to call 9-1-1 using a cellular telephone. Unfortunately, in some of these cases, the initial call and subsequent calls to 9-1-1 result in busy signals. Making several calls to 9-1-1 while driving can be unsafe. Furthermore, if the motorist has difficulty getting through to the emergency dispatcher by calling 9-1-1 then there may be unnecessary delay in the emergency services being dispatched to the scene of the incident.
As cellular phone usage increases, the likelihood of congested voice networks and callers receiving busy signals for 9-1-1 calls is likely to grow. In certain instances, when a major incident occurs, 9-1-1 calls from bystanders reporting the incident may cause congestion of the voice network and thereby cause calls from a victim of that incident to get a busy signal. Ideally, however, persons who make 9-1-1 calls, whether bystanders or victims, should never be greeted with busy signals.